Rolling Bones Hot Rods: The Exhibit of G.O.W.
Modeled
on chopped pre-war coupes and roadsters familiar to followers of speed
record racing on the Bonneville, UT salt flats and the El Mirage, CA dry
lake, newly built rods from the Rolling Bones shop look like they came
right out of a 1950’s Hot Rod Magazine and have spent the decades since
in storage.
How it all started for the Rolling Bones Hot Rod Shop
Modeled on chopped pre-war coupes and roadsters familiar to followers of
speed record racing on the Bonneville, UT salt flats and the El Mirage,
CA dry lake, newly built rods from the Rolling Bones shop look like
they came right out of a 1950’s Hot Rod Magazine and have spent the
decades since in storage.
Driving up and down South Greenfield Road, not five miles from the Saratoga Automobile Museum, they saw a lady at her mailbox. Stopping, they asked, “Do you know where the Rolling Bones Hot Rod Shop is?”
“No, never heard of it, but my brother-in-law and his friend fool around with old cars in that barn over there,” she replied.
The non-descript barn, once a repair shop started by his older brother, sits across from Keith’s house and is now the home to the Rolling Bones Hot Rod Shop. Partners Keith Cornell and Ken Schmidt, along with Ken’s son Matt, will tell you, “We wouldn’t trade this old cow barn for a brand new building.”
Passing through the doors, you step back to a time when young men were returning from World War II with newly learned skills and a passion for speed. Money was tight, but old Fords were cheap and plentiful. The passion for the American Hot Rod was about to explode.
It’s those hot rods, built in the post-war era until the late 50s, that are the foundation of what has become the Rolling Bones style. Raw and pure in their quest for speed, “We cut off everything that keeps them from flying,” says Keith.
Ken recalls seeing Keith for the first time at a local car show about 20 years ago. “He had the only real hot rod there, a jet black ’34 roadster powered by a nasty flathead.” A year or two later they started “running” together, Ken with his ’29 roadster and Keith still terrorizing the highways with his ’34.
Keith's brother’s successful auto-repair business was growing, and it was time for a new building. This left the barn vacated, the perfect place for Keith’s hot-rod-building hobby.
It was around 1998 when Ken stopped by to see the deuce three-window Keith was building. Ken was looking for one to build for himself, and with Keith’s help, he found it. Together they built what soon became known as the “wicked sister hot rod coupes.” The right hot rods, at the right time, and they touched a chord with the right people.
“After driving our two coupes to California for the Father’s Day roadster show, we parked in the swap meet area, and this guy with an easy smile walked up. His name was Dennis Varni, and he insisted we build him one of ‘our hot rods.’”
Two weeks later the three of us were standing in the barn looking at a deuce sedan body that Keith had. We shook hands, the deal was made and, just like that, the Rolling Bones Hot Rod Shop was born.
Driving up and down South Greenfield Road, not five miles from the Saratoga Automobile Museum, they saw a lady at her mailbox. Stopping, they asked, “Do you know where the Rolling Bones Hot Rod Shop is?”
“No, never heard of it, but my brother-in-law and his friend fool around with old cars in that barn over there,” she replied.
The non-descript barn, once a repair shop started by his older brother, sits across from Keith’s house and is now the home to the Rolling Bones Hot Rod Shop. Partners Keith Cornell and Ken Schmidt, along with Ken’s son Matt, will tell you, “We wouldn’t trade this old cow barn for a brand new building.”
Passing through the doors, you step back to a time when young men were returning from World War II with newly learned skills and a passion for speed. Money was tight, but old Fords were cheap and plentiful. The passion for the American Hot Rod was about to explode.
It’s those hot rods, built in the post-war era until the late 50s, that are the foundation of what has become the Rolling Bones style. Raw and pure in their quest for speed, “We cut off everything that keeps them from flying,” says Keith.
Ken recalls seeing Keith for the first time at a local car show about 20 years ago. “He had the only real hot rod there, a jet black ’34 roadster powered by a nasty flathead.” A year or two later they started “running” together, Ken with his ’29 roadster and Keith still terrorizing the highways with his ’34.
Keith's brother’s successful auto-repair business was growing, and it was time for a new building. This left the barn vacated, the perfect place for Keith’s hot-rod-building hobby.
It was around 1998 when Ken stopped by to see the deuce three-window Keith was building. Ken was looking for one to build for himself, and with Keith’s help, he found it. Together they built what soon became known as the “wicked sister hot rod coupes.” The right hot rods, at the right time, and they touched a chord with the right people.
“After driving our two coupes to California for the Father’s Day roadster show, we parked in the swap meet area, and this guy with an easy smile walked up. His name was Dennis Varni, and he insisted we build him one of ‘our hot rods.’”
Two weeks later the three of us were standing in the barn looking at a deuce sedan body that Keith had. We shook hands, the deal was made and, just like that, the Rolling Bones Hot Rod Shop was born.
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